KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended weaker across the board on Tuesday as the tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI shed 25.69 points, or 1.63% to 1,546.87.
Losers trounced gainers by 794 to 272, while 369 counters traded unchanged. About 3.96 billion shares valued at RM3.77bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the performance of the local bourse was in line with the key indices across the region. They added that the local bourse will remain volatile in the near term.
According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors and retailers were net buyers on the market to the tune of RM143mil and RM58mil respectively on Monday. Local institutions were net sellers at RM200mil.
The KLCI-component stocks were overwhelmingly negative, with 28 losers and two gainers.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Nestle lost 70 sen each to RM27 and RM135.20 respectively.
Petronas Chemicals fell 40 sen to RM9.70, Hartalega eased 14 sen to RM4.38 and Tenaga declined 11 sen to RM8.80.
Genting Malaysia added five sen to RM2.89 and Maybank rose one sen to RM8.80.
Malaysian Pacific Industries, Heineken Malaysia, ViTrox and Aeon Credit are among the top losers on Bursa Malaysia.
Among the gainers, Nylex rose 30 sen to 30.5 sen, Far East added 22 sen to RM3.45 and Panasonic Manufacturing gained 14 sen to RM27.52
Meanwhile, oil prices continue to rise as fears of formal sanctions against Russian oil and fuel exports spurred concerns about supply availability.
US light crude oil rose US$1.78 to US$121.18 and Brent added US$2.47 to US$125.68 per barrel.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 1.71% to 24,790.95;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.39% to 20,765.87;
Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.35% to 3,293.53;
Taiwan’s Taiex declined 2.06% to 16,825.25;
South Korea’s Kospi eased 1.09% to 2,622.40 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed down 1.22% to 3,148.86 points.